Attorney Helen Moore Polaner was active in various civil liberties and labor organizations, including Americans for Democratic Action and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Ms. Polaner served as president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers from 1945-1950 and was the first female vice president of the Michigan Federation of Labor. Mardy Polaner served as a labor organizer for the American Federation of Labor (AFL), working with the Seafarers International Union (SIU) in the Great Lakes Region and the Hotel & Restaurant Employees Union in Ohio. The Helen and Mardy Polaner Collection documents their careers in the labor movement and their involvement in civil liberties issues in the Detroit area.